Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

God has placed in the heart of every living person the desire for unending life and happiness. While physical death claims each of us at the appointed time, God gives us something that death cannot touch — His own divine life and sustaining power. One of the greatest examples of faith and hope in everlasting life with God is found in the testimony of Job in the Old Testament.

God allowed Job to be tested through great trial and suffering. Yet, in the midst of his afflictions, Job did not waver in his trust in God. He proclaimed: “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the last he will stand upon the earth; and after my skin has been thus destroyed, then in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see on my side, and my eyes shall behold, and not another.” (Job 19:25–27)

Jesus made an incredible promise to his disciples — a claim that only God can make and fulfill: Whoever sees and believes in Jesus, the Son of God, shall have everlasting life and be raised up on the last day. The Lord makes His presence known to us in the reading of His Word, in the breaking of the bread, and in His Church, the Body of Christ. Let us remember our faithful departed with faith and hope. Let us pray that one day we may all be reunited in His kingdom of light and peace that never ends.

Rev. Julio Fernandez